As Henry Lord Middle School struggles to emerge from its status as a Level 4 institution, Mayor Will Flanagan is proposing a drastic overhaul of the school.

Henry Lord now serves students in grades six through eight, but Flanagan would like the school to become a site for students starting in pre-kindergarten. Flanagan said the concept would promote stability and continuity of learning as the students remain in one school rather than switching to a new location for their middle school years.

In addition to restructuring the school, Flanagan said he also wants to create a community center at the school that would provide services to Henry Lord families during after-school hours.

“I think with this type of method, we will see Henry Lord be de-designated as a Level 4 school,” Flanagan said.

Henry Lord has been designated as a Level 4 school since 2006. The term Level 4 has replaced "chronically underperforming" in the state’s vernacular.

Before moving forward with the change, Flanagan said he wants the concept to be vetted by the group of Level 4 stakeholders that reviewed Henry Lord’s current redesign plan. He said he would also seek input from the Fall River Educators’ Association “to make sure changes aren’t done unilaterally.”

Flanagan said the change would likely begin in September with the addition of a fifth-grade class. Remaining classes would be added during a two- to three-year period. He said that through discussions with Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown, it was determined that “a good portion” of teachers at Henry Lord also hold elementary certification, meaning teacher turnover could be kept to a minimum.

The change would have some effect on other schools in the city’s South End, Flanagan said, with fewer elementary aged students enrolled in the Carlton Viveiros and Alfred Letourneau schools. The distribution of middle school-aged children would also change, as the city’s three other middle schools add students who otherwise would have attended Henry Lord. There are approximately 520 students currently enrolled in the school.

Mayo-Brown, however, was not as confident that the changes could begin in September, voicing concerns that the shift could be too much of a shock for Henry Lord families. She said if enough families do express an interest in enrolling their children at the school to create a fifth-grade class, the process could possibly begin.

“We talked about possibly adding a grade five class in September, but before we jump into that I want the input of parents to know if there would be support to do that at this point,” Mayo-Brown said.

She added that the fall of 2013 would be a sensible time to begin shifting student populations because it coincides with the expected opening of the new James Morton Middle School, which will prompt a review of middle-school population sizes.

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Flanagan said the change will not raise costs for the district because the student population is not expected to increase.

“I’m confident we can do this redesign plan within the current budget allocated to Henry Lord,” Flanagan said.

Creating stability within the Henry Lord population is additionally important, Flanagan said, because the school’s shortfalls have effects on other schools. Flanagan said a review of data related to dropouts at B.M.C. Durfee High School shows that the highest number of students dropping out were previously enrolled at Henry Lord.

“For whatever reason, children leaving the eighth grade are not making the transition to high school,” Flanagan said. “We’ve begun to analyze why they’re not making that transition, and I think if we can get them more involved in their education in the classroom and get resources to them it will make a difference.”

Adding the community center aspect is an important factor, as Flanagan and Mayo-Brown noted there are few options in the South End of the city for families to receive additional services.